Suffering orchestras (6): More from Ecuador
OrchestrasWe have received several abusive messages from people connected to the present management of the orchestra in Guayaquil. The following email came from one of the musicians:
It is a pleasure for me to greet you and ask you to forgive me for not writing this email in English. Someone is speaking to you from anonymity, someone who fears that if his name is published he could be fired from his job, but I am amazed that finally someone is exposing the atrocities that are experienced every day in the Guayaquil symphony orchestra. I must say that I read your last article and felt hopeful that we unfortunate musicians in the orchestra have a voice to speak for us. As you may have already imagined, I am a musician from the orchestral staff watching how these demons who have come to power destroy my orchestra by talking about the pseudo-director Iñigo Pirfano (director who never auditioned for the position) and Ana Tamayo (pictured) bosses her around. And as you yourself published, everything has gone downhill since they arrived at this orchestra, lamenting the unjustified dismissal of the previous director Dante Santiago Anzolini. That it takes two weeks to put together a symphony is not that bad, that musicians have to play with leaks too, there are more urgent problems that no one knows about and no one talks about, such as giving a ticket (contract) without audition or title to a cellist, lacking the artistic level that is needed to join an orchestra just because he is a “friend” of the boss or that no one talks about how we have to play roles that do not correspond to us, to be forced by these people, such as playing solos and taking charge of a row without the principal contract that do not exist and they do not make the effort to look for them when it is obviously an atrocity or to give a job to the concertmaster’s daughter just for being a concertmaster and not to mention the poor musicians who are invoices (without contracts) They haven’t been paid for 4 months and they spend thousands of dollars to move the offices and this is just the tip of the iceberg. I hope you never stop publishing the things that happen in the Osg and thank you in advance for exposing the injustice.
The original Spanish reads: Para mí es un placer saludarle y pedirle que me perdone por no escribir este correo en inglés. Le habla alguien desde el anonimato, alguien que teme si se publica su nombre pueda ser despedido de su trabajo pero quedo maravillado de que por fin alguien exponga las atrocidades que se vive día a día en la orquesta sinfónica de Guayaquil. Debo decir que leí su último artículo y me sentí esperanzado que los infortunados músicos de la orquesta tengamos una voz que hable por nosotros. Como ya habrá imaginado soy un músico de la planta orquestal viendo como destruyen su orquesta estos demonios que han llegado al poder hablando del seudodirector Iñigo Pirfano (director que nunca audicionó para el puesto) y la manda más Ana Tamayo. Y como usted mismo publicó todo ha ido en picada desde que ellos llegaron a esta orquesta lamentado el despido injustificado del anterior director Dante Santiago Anzolini. Que se tome dos semanas para montar una sinfonía no es para tanto, que los músicos tenga que tocar con goteras también, hay problemas más urgentes y de los que nadie sabe y nadie habla como dar una partida (contrato) sin audición ni título a un chelista, caresiendo del nivel artístico que se necesita para entrar a una orquesta solo por ser “amigo” de la jefa o que nadie habla de cómo tenemos que desempeñar papeles que no nos corresponden a ser obligados por estas personas como tocar solos y encargase de una fila sin el contrato de principal que no existen y no hacen la gestión para buscarlos cuando obviamente es una atrocidad o darle puesto de trabajo a la hija del concertino solo por ser concertino y ni que hablar de los pobre músicos que son facturas (sin contratos) que llevan 4 meses sin cobrar y ellos gastan miles de dólares en mudar las oficinas y esto solo es la punta del iceberg. Espero usted nunca deje de publicar las cosas que pasan en la Osg y de antemano gracias por exponer lo injusto.
Wow – you should also read/ask/investigate what’s going on with the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in Durban, South Africa! Abuse to the highest degree.
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My most enduring memory of Guayaquil was watching a rather large iguana, perched on a tree branch in a city centre park, urinate violently on a German tourist. Shortly before, a taxi driver had tried to fix me up with a prostitute in a lap-dancing club.
I’m now curious to see how the classical music world functions in this estimable city. It seems it is also not without its foibles.